Traveling iron



p 1952 L. H. THOMAS ET AL ,59 ,489

TRAVELING IRQN Filed July 61, 1950 A INVENTORS LAURENCE H.THOMAS y FRANKW.KUHN

ATTO RNEYS Patented Apr. 8, 1952 U NITED STATE S ICE TRAVELING -IRONLaurence HYThomas, Birmingham, and Frank W.

Kuhn, GrossePointe Farms, Mich., assignors to" American ElectricalHeater Company -De- 1 troit, Mich., a corporationxof MichiganApplication July 31, 1950, Serial No. 176,832

3 Claims.

The invention relates to pressing irons and more particularly to thattype generally designated as traveling irons and which are adapted to bestored in relatively small space during transit. It is the object of theinvention to obtain a structure of this type in which the handle portioncan be turned to extend tranversely of the base of the iron and whenturned back in position for operation will automatically lock in rigidrelation to the base. vention consists in the construction ashereinafter set forth.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved traveling iron showing thehandle in an upright position ready for use;

Figure 2 is an end elevation showing in full lines the handle in anupright position and in dotted lines the folded position;

Figure 3 is an elevation as viewed from the line 33 of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

A is the base portion of the iron provided with a sole member B and acap member C, which latter encloses the electrical heater unit, notshown.

D are the electrical terminals of this unit which are surrounded bycasing E inclining upward and adapted to receive a connector plug, notshown. F is the handle member provided with the handhold portion Gformed of material of relatively low thermal conductivity and H aremetallic arms connected within the hand-hold G and extending fromopposite ends thereof downward towards the base A. The arms H arepivotally attached at I to members J and K extending upward from the capmember C, respectively, near the front and rear ends thereof. This formsa hinge connection permitting the handle G to be turned from itsposition for operation shown in full lines, Figure 2, to a position forstoring indicated in dotted lines.

It is very important that the handle of the iron should be rigidlysecured to the base when in use so as to avoid any lost motiontherebetween. Quite frequently irons having hinged handles will have acertain amount of play between the base and the handle which is quiteannoying to the user. With our improved construction the handle when inoperative position is absolutely rigid with the base, not permitting theslightest relative movement, this being accomplished by the followingconstruction.

The member K, which as before described, extends upward from the cap Cis rigidly secured thereto, preferably by an angle flange K ex- To thisend, the intending inside of the cap and welded or otherwise attachedthereto. This member has on one side thereof a projecting finger Kforming a stop for one edge of the arm E. On the opposite side is asegment K concentric with the pivot I and between these two portions isa notch K Slidably mounted on the arm H is a channel-shaped member L,preferably formed of metal, and a member M formed of material of lowthermal conductivity on the opposite side of the member H, embraces theflanges of the member L and is secured to the latter by a cen tralfastening N. One of the flanges of the member L extends forward so as tooverlap the member K forming a detent L which bears against the segmentK when the handle is moved towards or from folding position and entersthe notch K when the handle is in upright position. A spring 0, underinitial compression, is arranged within a vertical slot H in the arm Hwith its upper end engaging the upper end of the slot and the lower endengaging the fastening member N. The notch K has one side K slightlyinclined or cammed so that when the spring-pressed detent enters thenotch, it has a wedging engagement with this inclined surface K therebyholding the arm H pressed firmly against the stop K It will beunderstood from the above that whenever the iron is to be stored fortransportation, the operator merely draws upward on the member M andsimultaneously turns the handle so that the detent L contacts with thesegment K and can slide thereover during the continued downward movementof the handle. Any time the iron is to be used, the handle is merelyturned upward and as soon as the detent L clears the upper end of thecam face K it will be moved downward by the spring 0 into the notch Kthereby locking the handle in upright position. The spring pressure onthe detent L always maintains the detent in engagement with the inclinedsurface K thereby wedging the arm H against the stop K and holding thehandle absolutely rigid with the base, avoiding all play or lost motion.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In a pressing iron comprising a base and a foldable handle hingedthereto, said handle including a hand-hold portion, arms extendingdownward from opposite ends thereof, and brackets rigidly secured to andextending upward from said base pivotally connected to said arms to formthe hinge thereof; means for automatically rigidly locking said handlein operative upright position when raised from its folded positioncomprising a. finger projecting from one of said brackets forming a stopfor the adjacent arm, the said bracket having a notch therein forming ashoulder opposed to said stop, a slide on said arm having a projectingdetent for wedging engagement with said shoulder, and resilient meansbiasing said slide to engage said detent.

2. The construction as in claim 1 in which said slide carrying arm isslotted, a pin on said slide passing through said slot, and a spring insaid slot bearing against said Din forming the resilient biasing means.

3. The construction as in claim 2 in which the notched bracket has anedge portion concentric with the pivot thereof and upon the oppositeside 4 from said finger against which edge portion said detent bears andis held retracted thereby when said handle is folded.

LAURENCE I-I. THOMAS.

5 FRANK W. KUHN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent: 10 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,798,163 KrenzkeMar. 31, 1931 2,237,034 Huffman Apr. 1, 1947 15 2,467,579 Boudreau Apr.19, 1949 2,540,579 Hanner Feb. 6, 1951

